Solved case · 2023
The short answer
On 20 January 2023, a man opened fire from his apartment balcony in Sagarejo, Georgia, killing four civilians and a responding police officer before fatally shooting himself.
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for Sagarejo shootingIn the early morning hours of 20 January 2023, a mass shooting occurred in Sagarejo, a town in the Kakheti region of Georgia. A man opened fire from his apartment balcony using an automatic weapon, killing four people and wounding five others. A police officer, Chief Lieutenant Otar Gvinashvili, responded to the scene and was also fatally shot. The shooting ended when the perpetrator fatally shot himself in the head shortly after additional police teams and a special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia arrived.
The perpetrator was identified as 49-year-old Nodar Atuashvili (1974 – 20 January 2023), a former member of Georgia's armed forces who served from 2006 to 2021, including a deployment in Afghanistan. It was determined that Atuashvili had been inside the building with his adult son, who fled when the shooting began. As of the available reporting, a motive for the shooting had not been established and remained under investigation.
Vakhtang Gomelauri, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, issued a statement on the day of the shooting confirming that the perpetrator had fatally shot five people, including a police officer, and wounded five others before killing himself with a firearm. The statement disclosed the suspect's birth year but did not provide further identifying details at that time.
The shooting prompted condolences from several Georgian political figures. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili expressed sorrow over the loss of life, including that of the "hero police officer," and wished the wounded a speedy recovery. President Salome Zourabichvili mourned the police officer who died "performing his professional duties." Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the Georgian Dream party, and Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, also honored the slain officer alongside the civilian victims. Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said he was "struck by the tragedy."
The United States Embassy in Georgia also issued a statement mourning the deaths and expressing condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, while praying for the recovery of those injured.
Nodar Atuashvili, later identified as the perpetrator, is born.
Atuashvili begins service in Georgia's armed forces, according to Wikipedia.
Atuashvili's military service, which included a deployment in Afghanistan, ends.
A man opens fire from his apartment balcony in Sagarejo, Georgia, killing four people and wounding five others; a responding police officer, Chief Lieutenant Otar Gvinashvili, is fatally shot; the perpetrator then fatally shoots himself.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
SOLVEDListenOkrokana, Tbilisi, Georgia · 2000s
Sandro Girgvliani, a 28-year-old bank department head, was abducted outside a Tbilisi bar in January 2006 and found dead the next day, sparking allegations of Interior Ministry involvement and a political crisis in Georgia.
Credit: Smerus at English WikipediaPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenTbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union · 1950s
In March 1956, protests in Tbilisi and other Georgian cities against Khrushchev's de-Stalinization "Secret Speech" escalated over several days into demands for Georgian independence, culminating in Soviet Army units opening fire on demonstrators on the night of 9–10 March, killing at least 21 people and wounding 55.
UNSOLVEDListenKhaibakh (aul), Chechnya · 1940s
On 27 February 1944, during the Soviet deportation of Chechens known as Operation Lentil, more than 700 civilians from the mountain village of Khaibakh — including elderly people, pregnant women, and small children unable to travel — were reportedly locked in a stable and burned alive by NKVD forces, with survivors shot while trying to flee.
Credit: John CornynPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenRobb Elementary School, Uvalde, Texas, United States · 2022
On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother, then drove to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 students and 2 teachers, wounding 18 others, before being killed by a Border Patrol tactical unit 77 minutes after entering the classroom. Law enforcement's delayed response drew widespread criticism and multiple investigations.
Credit: Indrid__ColdCC BY-SA 2.0SourceSOLVEDListenPortapique, Nova Scotia, Canada · 2020
Over April 18–19, 2020, Gabriel Wortman shot and killed 22 people and set fires at 16 locations across rural Nova Scotia before being shot dead by RCMP officers in Enfield, in the deadliest shooting rampage in Canadian history.
Highland Park, Illinois, United States · 2022
On July 4, 2022, a gunman opened fire from a rooftop on an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois, killing seven people and wounding 48 others; Robert Eugene Crimo III was later charged, pleaded guilty in 2025, and was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences plus 2,400 years.
